Project Bike #3 - Paul Milnes

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zzpza

Well-Known Member
It's been a while since I posted my last projects (#0, #1 and #2) so I thought it was time for an update on my latest. :smile:

A friend of mine has wanted a road bike for a while. His friends and I decided to build him a bike for his birthday.

Originally I wanted to buy a good quality 2nd hand bike that just needed servicing, but he needs a 52cm frame which don't show up that often on eBay. In the end we went for a frameset that came with some extra 'bits' from eBay.

The description sounded ok, it was the right size, made of alloy (he wanted something light) and looked pretty cool with internal routing of the rear brake cable. The auction described the frame as such: "Although the frame is a lovely frame to ride it has a few paint chip’s on it, however these can be touched up easily."

What eventually turned up (2 weeks late, and only after I lodged a dispute with eBay) wasn't really what I had expected. Suffice to say I had to break out the P38 and rattle cans. And I'd missed my friend's Birthday. :laugh: :sad: :laugh:

Anyway... here's what turned up. This is the 'frameset' as I unboxed it.

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First thing I did was to test the tyre clearance and see if the drop of the brakes I'd bought were OK. Normally I would have waited for the frame to turn up before buying the rest of the parts, but I was already 2 week behind so had to push on using best judgement.

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Rear brake - OK

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Front brake - OK too. :smile:

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I had made my mind up by this point that I was going to have to paint the frame, so off came the stickers and the tear down started.

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Some highlights of the road rash...

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This had dented the soft alloy tubing...

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After I had washed the frame it was ready for sanding and keying (N.B. I really didn't want to remove the cups as the previous headset was one of the few things I reused).

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In previous conversations about road bikes I had trying to lure my friend away from flat bars, but he didn't like drops. When I got some Profile Airwings for one of my other bikes, he really liked them. So I had the idea of trying to fit gears to aero bars without having tribars. This was my result:

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So, back to the frame. This is after initial degrease and sanding:

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As I had gone right down to the metal, I used an etch primer to cover up after myself.

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Then the frame received its first coat of colour!

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It was at that point that I realised that the really bad road rash was still visible. :biggrin: :sad: :sad: It never pays to scrimp on prep to save time. It will cost you in the long run. So out came the P38.

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Which I then sanded 98% off...


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Then followed several applications of paint followed by lacquer which resulted in this:

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Then started the reassembly.

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As it was well past my friend's birthday he wanted to help in it's assembly so he could feel a part of the bike too. We had already come clean about the delays, so the cat was already out of the bag.

We polished the fork with t-cut and then cut it down to actually fit this frame. I have no idea how the PO had ever ridden the bicycle with the steerer being about 5cm too long. We also used a quill to ahead converter, which was fun to fit! The PO had left the wedge from the previous quill stuck inside the steerer tube. We had to drift it out with a mallet.

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The bars went on next.

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Then the rear mech...

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A spare Campy crankset I had...

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Front mech...

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Gear and brake cables were next.

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Bar tape and saddle were all that were left to fit.

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All in it cost about £250 plus some spare bits from me (wheelset and crankset).

I think it looks pretty good. There are still a few small dings that I didn't notice when I was filling the frame (I was working pretty late to get it done quickly after missing the deadline) but my friend thinks it looks awesome. :smile: It took about 12 man hours excluding paint drying time.

If you want to see even MORE pix, they are here.


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Cyclist33

Guest
Location
Warrington
Awesome dude.
 
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zzpza

zzpza

Well-Known Member
Cheers guys! :biggrin:

The Apollo box is what it turned up in (packed with the same level of care and attention to detail as the eBay auction description):

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Having said that, I do own an Apollo myself (here). :smile:
 

RedBike

New Member
Location
Beside the road
I don't think that description was too bad. You'd expect any used frameset thats desbribed as having paint chips to have a bit of cable rub and chain slap.

Building frames up is always expensive.
 
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zzpza

zzpza

Well-Known Member
Are you the PO? :becool:

Seriously, the cosmetics were a mess. Have a look at the extra pics. I only posted a few of them here.

(For extra context, this is the 5th frame I've bought from eBay and the first I've had a problem with the description accuracy. I don't have a problem with a 2nd hand frame having scratches, but the original description didn't make it clear that I was going to have to use filler and repaint the frame. Not what I wanted when time was of the essence.)
 

palinurus

Velo, boulot, dodo
Location
Watford
Couple of bikes I sold on ebay I photographed every major scratch and ding. Both sold for more than I was expecting.

It looks nice, it was worth the effort. Perhaps if it had been dinged less you wouldn't've ended up with such an attractive bike.
 
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zzpza

zzpza

Well-Known Member
That's a good way to look at it. If the cosmetics hadn't have been so bad, I wouldn't have painted it.
 
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zzpza

zzpza

Well-Known Member
yep :smile:

1x rattle can - grey etch primer - 1 coat
2x rattle can - halfrauds (vauxhall moonland) - 4 coats (wet sand between each)
1x rattle can - lacquer - 2 coats
t-cut & wax

the photos in the garage don't do it justice. it is *very* shiny. it has a mirror finish (except for the chips that i neglected to fill). :wacko:
 

montage

God Almighty
Location
Bethlehem
zzpza said:
yep B)

1x rattle can - grey etch primer - 1 coat
2x rattle can - halfrauds (vauxhall moonland) - 4 coats (wet sand between each)
1x rattle can - lacquer - 2 coats
t-cut & wax

the photos in the garage don't do it justice. it is *very* shiny. it has a mirror finnish (except for the chips that i neglected to fill). :biggrin:

Very nice, I may look into painting my own project frame this summer having seen your result :biggrin:...I assume that this routine would also work well with steel?
 
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zzpza

zzpza

Well-Known Member
Sure, the one before this that I did was a steel frame. I would make sure not to leave any bear metal overnight though. Always put primer on it. :ohmy:
 
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